Hydraulic ram.



No. 7ll,076. Patented Oct. [4, I902.

J. RICHARDS. HYDRAULIC RAM.

(Application filed Mn. 15, 1902.)

(No Model.)

Ill lll UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN RICHARDS, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA.

HYDRAULIC RAM.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 711,076, dated October 14, 1902.

Application filed March 15, 1902. Serial No. 98.40%. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN RICHARDS, a citizen of the United States, residing at San Francisco, county of San Francisco, and State of California, have invented certain new and usefulIinpr-ovementsin Hydraulic Rams; and I hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification.

My invention relates to hydraulic rams and to certain useful improvements therein.

These improvements consist in various novel features of a constructive and operative nature, hereinafter particularly described, and illustrated by drawings that form a part of this specification.

The drawings comprise Figure I, which is an end elevation of a hydraulic rain constructed according to my invention; Fig. II, a central longitudinal section through the same machine; Fig. III, a partial plan view of Figs. I and II; Fig. IV, an enlarged vertical section through one of the waste-valves; Fig. V, a plan view of Fig. IV; Fig. VI, a side view of one of the waste-valves removed from its housing; Fig. VII, a bottom View of the same valve; and Fig. VIII, an enlarged view, partially in section, of a snifting-valve to admit air.

In the operation of impulsive hydraulic apparatus such as enters into common use there are losses due to various unavoidable causes, especially to the water that" escapes during the closing of the waste-valves after the maximum flow in the driving-pipe has been arrested, also by inertia of the driven water by concussion and otherwise, which .it is the object of the present invention to avoid as far as possible.

Referring to the drawings, 1 is the main body of the machine, consisting, mainly, of a vessel of cylindrical form disposed in a horizontal position and formed integrally with the waste-valve chambers 2 at its sides and a central check-valve chamber 3 in the middle. In the top of this middle chamber 3 are placed the check-valves t, one or more in number, as the volume of water or their size may require. The supply or driving pipe is connected to the nipple 5 and by a passage 7 Figs. iv, v, VI, and VII.

communicates with the check-valve chamber The checlcvalves 4 instead oftbeing at the bottom of the main chamber-'1 or air-space therein are set at its center or above to prevent their being submerged. This arrange ment avoids the inertia of a thick stratum of water over the top of these valves that causes both resistance and delay to their sudden action.

.Over the check-valves 4 is a removable plate 8, that permits access to these valves, also receives the discharge-pipe 9 and an interior pipelO, that communicates with the discharge-pipe and extends down near the bottom of the main chamber 1 to prevent the escape of air from this vessel.

The check-valve chamber 3 extends laterally to the waste-valve chambers 2, as indicated by dotted lines in Fig. III, and from there communicates with the Waste-valves 12, that may be of any number. These Wastevalves 12 are attached to the seats 13 and 14 at one or both sides of the main vessel 1, as their number may determine.

The plurality of waste-valves 12 enables them to be of uniform construction, of small size and weight to avoid the shock and wear common to large valves, also enables the machine to be operated with one or more valves at a time and at various degrees of duty, as may be required, other parts remaining the same.

A check-valve 15 is placed in the dischargepipe 9, which insures against backflow in case the check-valves 4 should leak, also enables the main vessel to be drained of water by closing the supply-pipe, opening the air-cock 17, andremoving the plug 18. (Shown in Fig. II.)

The Waste-valves 12 are shown enlarged in These are of the multiported type, in the form of conic sections that fit the interior of a perforated housing If), and have a lateral discharge through the double passages 20, that are. opened by the descent of the movable part 22. This part 22 is guided and supported at the top by a stem 23, provided with adjustable stop-collars 24: and at the bottom by an extension 25, that fits loosely in the housing 10. The valve is shown closed in Fig. IV, the annular seats 26 27 covering the passages 20. The vertical range of the valve is by this construction reduced to the width of the passages 20, and its effective area is as the sum of these passages. So the movement is short and quick, limiting accordingly the amount of water that escapes during the time the valve is closing. The stem 23 is provided with a weight that is made heavy enough to control the desired frequency of the pulsations or as the pressure of the driving-head may require.

A snifting-valve 28 (shown enlarged in Fig. VIII) is attached at some convenient point to communicate with the chamber 3 or the passage 7, so it will open slightly when the wastevalves 12 react or open, admitting a small.

amount of air at each stroke to replenish that contained in the main chamber 1. This snifting-valve is of simple construction, as shown in Fig. VIII, consisting of the main body 29, a hollow screw-plug 30 therein, and a ball 31, that acts as a check-valve. The main body 29 is made in a curved form, so it can be set at various angles to change the weight of the ball-valve 30 and modify its action.

The waste-valves 12 act synchronously and can be instantly thrown out of action by fastening them in their closed position. Their number is from two to eight, and they have preferably about ten inches of effective area each, answering for supply-pipes of various sizes.

Having thus described the nature and objects of my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a hydraulic ram, a cylindrical airchamber horizontally disposed, a receivingchamber therein, integral therewith, having a supply-pipe connection, said receiving-chamber projecting laterally beyond the air-chamber on each side, waste-valves mounted on said projections, check-valves mounted on the receiving-chamber centrally within the airchamber, and a discharge-pipe opening from the air-chamber below the level of the checkvalves, substantially as specified,

2. In a hydraulic ram, an air-chamber horizontally disposed, a receiving-chamber therein, integral therewith, projecting laterally beyond said air-chamber on each side, a plurality of waste-valves mounted on said lateral projections, a plurality of check valves mounted on the receiving-chamber centrally within the air-chamber, a supply-pipe connection to the receiving-chamber through the air-chamber, and a discharge-pipe opening from the air-chamber near its bottom and below the level of the check-valves, substantially as specified.

3. In a hydraulic ram, an air-chamber horizontally disposed, a receiving-chamber therein, integral therewith, projecting laterally beyond saidair-chamber on each side, Wastevalves mounted on said projections, checkvalves mounted on the receiving-chamber centrally within the air-chamber, a supply-pipe connection to the receiving-chamber, a removable cover-plate over the check-valves, and a discharge-pipe connected with and removable with said cover-plate, said pipe extending to near the bottom of the air-chamber, below the level of the checkvalves, substantially as specified.

4. In a hydraulic ram, in combination with an air-chamber horizontally disposed, having a receiving-chamber therein, integral therewith, projecting laterally beyond the said aircharnber on each side,'a plurality of wastevalves mounted on said projections, conical in form, with lateral waste-passages, said valves having a moving part within adapted to open and close said passages,and a weighted central directing-stem, substantially as specified.

5. In a hydraulic ram, an air-chamberhorizontally disposed, a receiving-chamber therein projecting laterally beyond said air-chamber on each side, waste-valves mounted on said projections outside of the air-chamber, check valves mounted on said receivingchamberinside of the air-chamber, a supplypipe to the receiving-chamber, a dischargepipe from the air-chamber, and a curved snifting-pipe, having a ball-valve at its extremity, for admitting air to the air-chamber, said pipe being adjustable at various angles to vary the gravitating resistance of the ball to the ingress of air, substantially as specified.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JOHN RICHARDS.

Witnesses:

ALFRED A. ENQUIST, P. XV. J. LANDER. 

